Many devices and systems include various numbers and types of sensors. The varied number and types of sensors are used to perform various monitoring and/or control functions. The systems can be active using real-time measurement data form the sensors in a work-flow or to control decision processes in operating devices. Sensors are used in conjunction with interface circuitry and control circuitry to interface with different sensor types, to control when measurements are taken, and to actively process the measurement data. Sensors are placed in proximity to the parameter being measured. Sensors can require direct interaction with the parameter of interest or conversely can be measured indirectly. In general, the number and uses of sensors is growing and being applied in a number of new and different applications.
Sensors can be mechanical, chemical, biological, electro-mechanical, or solid state to name but a few. A sensor is a singular component that is coupled to other electronic circuits via a printed circuit board or other connection means. MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology is a type of micro-fabrication technique used to form a sensor that interacts with the environment to measure physical, chemical, or biological parameters. Thus, in recent years, many of the sensors used to perform monitoring and/or control functions use MEMS technology for their implementation. These sensors provide electrical parameters such as voltage, current, frequency, etc. as inputs to the interface circuits that are equivalent to the physical, chemical, biological etc. parameters that are being measured. At issue is that these sensors and other types of sensors are separate devices or a plurality of devices of the same type or measure similarly. Often to increase functionality or add further sensing capability different sensor types are combined in a package or on a PCB. This results in a larger foot-print, higher power consumption, higher complexity, increased cost and more complicated fabrication and assembly processes. Therefore, there is a need and benefit to combine sensors of different types that measure different parameters, in a monolithic process, and on a semiconducting substrate that reduces the size, improves performance, lowers cost, and reduces manufacturing and assembly complexity. Furthermore, this will open the door to new and different applications that were limited by the scale of system integration.
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